Drama Of Western States Captured On Film

A new documentary about The Western States 100 is coming to DVD. Photo: BikerNate

The runners were filmed with a 10-pound camera.

A new documentary about The Western States 100 is coming to DVD. Photo: BikerNate

Unless you take part in one of the world’s most toughest races, the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run, you probably aren’t going to understand what it’s like. However, one filmmaker, JB Benna, is trying to change that. At last year’s race, held in June, Benna ran along with the leaders, pointing a 10-pound camera with a boom mic at them.

Naturally, Benna, who is an ultra runner himself, didn’t run all 100 miles with the camera, but he thinks he was able to keep up with them for over a third of the distance.

The documentary is called “Unbreakable: The Western States 100″ and it will be shown in screenings starting this week and made available on DVD.

“Though I think there’s a lot more shakiness in shots running with the camera, you get to be with the runners longer and get to feel the speed and the terrain of the race, rather than just seeing a guy run past the camera, then cut to another guy running past the camera and so on,” Benna said.

Duncan Larkin

Duncan Larkin is a freelance journalist and author who’s been covering the sport of running for over a decade. He’s run 2:32 in the marathon and won the Himalayan 100-Mile Stage Race in 2007. He wrote the book RUN SIMPLE, and coaches runners of all abilities.
You can learn more about him here: http://roadsmillslaps.tumblr.com/about